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RULE 45 | CUT THE EXTRA LANES

Updated: Sep 24

WALKABLE WICHITA: LESSONS FROM JEFF SPECK

BY RAMI STUCKY


A group of people walk across a cross walk | Bike Walk Wichita

William Greiffenstein arrived to Wichita in 1869 determined to create a thriving business district. In 1870, he purchased land, laid out plots, and separated them by a wide avenue, which is now called Douglas. He spaced the lots as he did to make his district look grandiose. Otto Weiss, Greiffenstein’s nephew, reported that his uncle wanted to emulate the Rheinstraße in Darmstadt, Germany: the main city not far from Greiffenstein’s hometown.[1] That street measures more than 70 feet across. Douglas could similarly serve as a parade ground.[2] It could double as a drill field.[3] Plus, it would be impressive enough to take commerce away from other areas. It did. In time, businesses flocked to Douglas. Photos from the early 1900s show that it was full of street cars, pedestrians, horses and buggies, wagons, and automobiles.[4] It has remained one of the city’s main thoroughfares ever since.


The problem, though? Douglas Avenue, with its preponderance of cars, is just too wide now. Conservatively, it is 24 percent wider than it needs to be. Jeff Speck, urban planner and author of Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places, argues that lanes should be narrowed to no more than ten feet.[5] Douglas measures 62 feet across downtown but has five lanes. The portion between the Arkansas River to Main Street is 85 feet across, and Washington to Hydraulic is only slightly narrower.[6] Such wide roads impact a city’s walkability.


When streets have more lanes than they need, it feels more like a highway. Street racing and lane jockeying can be seen (and heard) often on Douglas Avenue. In 2014, a street race there left one dead and another charged with manslaughter.[7] In 2019, an SUV crashed into a Toyota Camry at Douglas and Broadway, killing the two occupants in the Toyota.[8] Three pedestrian and cyclist deaths occurred on Douglas between 2019 and 2023.[9] Traffic on Douglas does not merit five lanes either. Speck notes that 10,000 vehicle trips per day require only about two lanes. Once you add a center turn lane, streets can handle approximately double the number of trips.[10] The intersection of Douglas and Grove sees just above 20,000 cars.[11] Further west, the numbers generally decrease, ranging between 10,000 and 20,000.[12] Such traffic numbers do not merit the number of lanes Douglas Avenue currently has.


Traffic Incident chart of various intersections and roads in Wichita helping walkability

Other streets in Wichita are also overly wide. Broadway is about 40 percent wider than it needs to be. Portions of Saint Francis are about 25 percent.[13] But Douglas, due to its history and its status as a key boulevard through the city, has received the most attention. In 2009, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department published an East Douglas streetscape improvement plan. It proposed reducing the posted speed limit on Douglas Avenue from 35 to 30 mph, establishing on-street bike lanes, installing raised landscape medians, converting four lanes of traffic into three, and installing unique street furniture such as bus benches, bike racks, and trash receptacles.[14] In 2020, the planning firm Nelson\Nygaard updated the streetscape plan, suggesting the addition of buffered bike lanes and parking on either side of the street, with three lanes in the center. Midblock crosswalks were also proposed.[15] 


The planning firm Sasaki, in collaboration with Downtown Wichita, is currently completing its Downtown Wichita Action Plan. Preliminary presentations show how Douglas and other streets have been reimagined with robust tree canopies and active street edges recessed for shade.[16] Finally, the College Hill Neighborhood Plan from 2025 recommends adding pedestrian crossings on Douglas. It also encourages the implementation of a three-lane conversion that is not unlike the 2009 streetscape improvement plan.[17] To date, few of those suggestions have been implemented. However, several plans and ideas exist. Any number of the recommendations proposed in the 2009 or 2020 Downtown Streets Conceptual Plan, the Downtown Action Plan, or the College Hill Neighborhood Plan could make Douglas a more vibrant, safe, and exciting thoroughfare––just like William Greiffenstein always wanted.

[1] Victor Murdock, “How Douglas Avenue in Wichita Got Its Width,” Wichita Eagle, June 23, 1929.


[2] “Douglas Avenue to Boost Pride,” Wichita Eagle, November 6, 1992, 8.


[3] “So That’s ‘Dutch Bill,’” Wichita Eagle, November 5, 1975, 11.


[4] Homer T. Harden, Douglas Avenue, Circa 1923, 3x4 inches, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, Wichita Photos, https://www.wichitaphotos.org/graphics/wschm_U2-2.1.7.jpg; “Wichita’s Big Union Station,” Wichita Beacon, March 9, 1912.


[5] Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places (Island Press, 2018), 106–7.


[6] Wichita Downtown Streets Conceptual Plan: Appendix F, Douglas Avenue Workshop (Nelson/Nygaard, 2020), 92, 109, https://www.wichita.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13055/Wichita-Downtown-Streets-Conceptual-Plan-Appendix-F-Douglas-PDF.


[7] Amy Renee Leiker, “Driver Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in January Street Racing Death,” Wichita Eagle, August 8, 2014, https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article1143957.html.


[8] Kaitlyn Alanis, “Woman and Girl Killed When SUV Fleeing Police Crashes in Downtown Wichita, Police Say,” Wichita Eagle, May 6, 2019, https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article230056454.html.


[9] Drive to Zero Crash Data Dashboard (Kansas Department of Transportation, 2025), https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/01b8e784d1634e94b84ea0df67b8aea4.


[10] Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places, 107.




[13] Jeff Speck, “Toward A More Walkable Wichita,” Downtown Wichita Action Plan, Wave, March 4, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGX9gNXSx8I.


[14] Douglas Design District Streetscape Improvement Plan (Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department, 2009), https://www.wichita.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9215/Douglas-Design-District-Streetscape-Design-and-Implementation-Plan-PDF?bidId=.


[15] Wichita Downtown Streets Conceptual Plan: Appendix F, Douglas Avenue Workshop.


[16] “Downtown Wichita Action Plan,” District 5 Advisory Board Meeting, Westlink Branch Library, July 7, 2025.


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